The Caretaker
by baby-kitsune9
Summary: His grandfather was nearing the end of his life, and with his yokai abilities was driving Rikuo and the gang up the wall. Hence the reason why the third heir went and hired a live in caretaker to help take care of things. little did he know that he had practically sealed his fate. First story. Rated M. Rikuo/OC R&R!
1. Chapter 1

This was unusual. She thought to herself as she glanced from the large old fashioned wooden gate down to the little slip of paper that she had been given two days ago when she had been hired by her new boss.

Rikuo Nura.

The name itself, while not odd given their location, did however seem just a little bit vaguely familiar to her. Though she had been trying over and over again to really figure out _why_.

Jumping slightly as the large wooden door to the gate slowly opened on squeaky hinges, she did a quick mental check of everything from her appearance to whether or not she had actually managed to break the lease on her former home to the contents she had packed inside of her duffle bag.

"Miss?" A masculine voice called out to her as several people appeared in the doorway.

Blinking her violet colored eyes at the group, she scanned one person and then another from under her long, dark bangs. The person whom had spoke to her was a man wearing ancient looking monk robes complete with long jet black hair and a large straw hat and a staff with rings on it.

Just a little bit to the side of him was a young man who appeared to be in his twenties with sandy blond hair and brown eyes, wearing a light blue robe over a pale green yakata with a either a dark blue or black scarf around his neck.

Next to him stood a young man with short silver hair wearing a sky blue, red, and gold yakata. And beside him- Was by far one of the most stunningly handsome man that she had ever seen before. He was tall, slightly muscular (if his pecs and abs were anything to go by) and had what appeared to be mid back length hair that was two different colors that would have looked terrible on another person, but looked quite good on him and was pulled back into a neat ponytail at the back of his head.

And though he was half hidden by shadows, his crimson eyes were not only noticeable, but stared at her with a peculiar intensity as he spoke.

"Are you Saya Wakamuri?"

She didn't recall replying.

Much less nodding her head in response to his question, but one moment she was out on the street and the next the man's hand shot out and snagged her wrist in a shockingly gentle grip as he chuckled and pulled her through the door and into the yard as a startled yelp escaped her lips.

Once inside of the spacious yard, inside of the massive fence and gate, the man abruptly released her wrist causing her to stagger a little bit before coming to a stop just an inch or so from him as he brought up one of his hands and gripped her chin and tipped her head back a bit on her neck so that he could see her features more clearly.

"Well, well- The woman who recommended you certainly didn't disappoint. You are quite lovely..." The man said as he stared at her from beneath hooded, vivid crimson of his eyes as he gave her a slow once over. Taking in her waist length black hair and how it was carefully styled in a long thick braid, her smooth ivory skin, soft pink lips, long slender neck, petite build and curves of her breasts- partially hidden underneath her cream colored long sleeved shirt, and her long slender legs encased in denim before muttering, "The only question now is if you are competent enough to reside in this house and do the task assigned to you."

Reaching up, Saya non too subtly smacked the man's hand away from her and shot him a glare as she said lightly. "Isn't it rude to say such things to someone who's come to help you?"

The man blinked at her for a second before chuckling again.

"You're right. Forgive me for being rude. I heard that you lived on the other side of town-"

"I did. But since you asked for a live in nurse, I had to break the lease for my apartment. I'm sorry about the two day wait, but it takes time to put things in order and pack."

The man gave her a calculating look for a moment before seeming to notice the duffle bag that she was carrying. And then pointed to it and asked, "Is that everything you own?"

"Wha- Oh you mean this. No, no, it's not everything I own. Just clothing and the bare essentials. I have at least a week or so worth of clothing, and figured that I could pick up some more stuff after I evaluate the condition of the patient. After all things like this sometimes take months or even years."

"Months? Years?" The man said as he got a strangely sad look on his face and quickly averted his gaze.

"Oh... I-I'm sorry. You weren't aware of that, were you? I thought for sure that after Mr. Nura had spoken with my supervisor that he would have known and told the rest of you. " Saya said as she mentally kicked herself for being so dumb as to say something like that out loud.

It made her seem insensitive.

"No. It's fine. Follow me, there are a few things that I must speak with you about before you settle in for the night," The man said in a much more gentle tone than before. "Have you eaten?"

"Huh? Oh no. I heard that Mr. Nura needed me here as soon as possible so I-" Saya started to say that she hasn't eaten more than a little bit of rice since the day her supervisor had contacted her about this job but the man cut her off.

"Very well, on of my people will bring you something to eat. And perhaps some coco too to help warm you up since you aren't wearing a jacket right now. And while you're eating, I'll tell you as much as I can about what is expected of you while your here."

"O-Okay." Saya said as she started forward as one of the other men that had been standing just behind her watching and listening to them, reached out and carefully took her duffle from her shoulder before she could so much as protest, saying in a mischievous tone.

"What kind of man would I be if I let a little lady like you carry such a heavy burden?" As he passed her and disappeared somewhere into the house as she was led up the porch steps and along the long hall to a room where the crimson eyed man pulled open a sliding door with painted shoji screens with a pond and a bunch of red lotus flowers on it.

"Come in and make yourself comfortable while I get someone to fetch you some food and coco." The crimson eyed man said gently as she stared at the shoji screen and tried to place just how old it was until she felt a large hand give her a light nudge forward and almost staggered and fell into the crimson eyed man's chest before catching herself and turning to look at who had nudged her only to find empty space behind her.

 _What the hell?_ She wondered before slowly entering the room and beginning to turn to close the door when the crimson eyed man said, "Don't bother. Your food should be here shortly and the person carrying it won't be able to open the door. Besides I have a few more people who will be joining us for this discussion and I want them to feel welcome."

"O-Oh. Alright then." Saya said, unsure of what exactly else she should say to the guy as she slowly walked over to the cushion left vacant across from where the man was sitting and slowly sat down on it and folded her hands in her lap.

"You seem uneasy." The crimson eyed man said out of the blue almost causing Saya to jump in her seat as her wide violet eyes locked with his.

"Sorry. I-I'm always a little jumpy in new places."

"Hnn, I see." The man said as he picked up a thin looking old fashioned pipe and used a match to light it and took a slow drag before exhaling the smoke and asking, "To get us started on our talk a little bit, how about some background info? What got you started as a live-in caretaker?"

"Well, my parents died when I was very young and the only family that I had left was my grandparents who were both in their fifties when they got custody of me. My grandfather used to work in the lower ranks of a yakuza family when he was young. And my grandmother was a trained nurse. On top of that they were a very traditional couple. So when I was living with them, my grandfather had my grandmother train me in traditional pursuits as well as some more practical ones. Like cooking, cleaning, and of course- first aid and advanced medical care."

The crimson eyed man tilted his head to the side ever so slightly as he stared at her with unblinking eyes for a moment before setting his pipe aside and saying, "They sound interesting."

"They were. Both of them passed away before I turned eighteen," There was a slight flicker of something akin to sadness in the man's eyes but it was quickly masked as she went on to say. "They both died in their sleep on the same night. They were both eighty one."

The man's lips quirked a little bit at the corners. "Sounds like you had an interesting childhood."

"I suppose so," Saya replied as a buxom young woman with long wavy hair suddenly entered the room carrying a tray with a steaming porcelain cup and several dishes on it and bowed to the crimson eyed man before raising to her full height and walking over to where Saya was seated and placed the tray on the floor directly in front of her.

"Here you go, Miss. Enjoy." The young woman said in a friendly manner as Saya looked over what had been brought for her to eat.

It was a decent spread as far as she was concerned, and had more restaurant-like appeal than anything traditionally made. The main dish was shrimp tempora, and mussels complete with stir fried vegetables and some seasoned rice. Finished off with side salad and dipping sauces and dressing on the side.

All in all it was rather nice.

A tad bit extravagant, in her opinion, but nice nevertheless.

"You don't have to hold yourself back, go ahead and dig in." The man said before tacking on. "Kejoro may not seem like it but her cooking is excellent."

Saya opened her mouth to say something but abruptly closed it again when the men from before, plus about twenty other people suddenly all appeared and began to file through the door and take their seats on the cushions littering the floor of the room.

It was then that the door to the room was finally shut and everyone fell silent.

"Is everyone here?" The crimson eyed man asked.

There was a chorus of Yes, and Here's from all over the place as the man nodded his head and said.

"To begin with, the young lady before me is Saya Wakamuri. She is the live-in caretaker that has been sent to us to take care of my grandfather since he can no longer take care of himself as he currently is." The man said as he allowed everyone to talk among themselves for a second in a whispering tone before falling silent again so that he could speak again, "I have already gotten some background on Miss Wakamuri and have decided to tell her the truth, the _real truth_ of our situation."

Again there was some muttering and whispering among the group as one young man with spiky dark hair and gold/red colored eyes leaned forward a little bit in his seat and asked, "Is it wise to do that Rikuo? She might get scared. You know how-" He paused for a second to cast a calculating glance her way before saying almost tentatively, " _Outsiders_ are."

The crimson eyed man- Rikou turned his head ever so slightly to glare at the guy for a moment before the other let out a tired sigh and put his hands up in surrender.

"Moving on- Miss Wakamuri, I'm afraid that the real situation within the household is...shaky at best. Especially where bringing in an...outsider is concerned. However we really seem to have no choice. My grandfather Nurarihyon, is extremely old. Almost eight hundred and thirty years old to be exact." Saya's eyes widened and she began to ask how that was possible but Rikou held up a hand to signal her to keep silent a few moments longer, making her close her mouth again as she waited for a possible explanation.

 _Any_ explanation really.

"You see, this household is a home and sanctuary for yokai. Yokai like my grandfather." Rikuo said bluntly, not bothering to sugar coat things or beat around the bush any and waited for Saya's reaction. Half expecting a scream, or fainting spell or- and this was possibly the weirdest scenario- a dine and dash as far away from his home as possible.

But when Saya just stared at him wide eyed for a moment and then gave him a funny little smile.

He felt an odd sense of dread settle in the pit of his stomach and began to wonder just why he was feeling that way.


	2. Chapter 2

Rikuo and several of the others all held their breath for several moment's. Still waiting on Saya's reaction when Rikuo decided to quickly tack on, "Not just yokai. But yakuza yokai." And then fell silent again to wait for Saya's reaction cause she still had that weird little smile on her face and she wasn't blinking.

Like at all.

Leaning over into his brother Zen's personal space, Rikuo whispered in a worried tone. "What's this? What's going on? Why isn't she reacting?"

To which Zen replied slowly. "I haven't the faintest idea, Rikuo. I haven't much experience with human's outside of scaring them." Which was followed by Tsurara's semi loud spoken-

"She just blinked master Rikuo."

Rikuo glanced back at the young woman that he had hired to take care of his grandfather and blinked before making a humming sound and asking, "Are you sure that it wasn't just a twitch or spasm of her facial muscles?"

"I'm sure!" Tsurara chirped almost cheerfully. Obviously finding the current situation more amusing than she should have, in her young master's opinion.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Saya seemed to come back to herself and slowly said. "I see. So you're both yokai and yakuza all at once..."

"Uh...yes. That is the basic gist of things." Rikuo said in an slightly anxious tone that only those closest to him were able to pick up on.

"I see. Well...as long as I have prior warning of...um, things, then I can probably manage to work around-"

"You don't need to work around anything. I've already spoken with my people about leaving you alone so that you can devote your attention to my grandfather's health. I've also told the...more troublesome bunch of yokai under me that they aren't to prank you either. If anyone gives you any trouble while your here, or you need help with something. You can come to me or ask one of the others if I can't be found." Rikuo explained to her, hoping that his words would lay any fears or concerns that she may have after having him reveal the secret of his home to her, to rest.

It must have worked because she didn't say anything more about it aside from, "Then I should hurry and eat and then settle in for the night. Tomorrow is going to be a long day." And with that picked up her chop sticks and began to eat a little bit of the cold dinner that she had left untouched for so long as Rikuo dismissed everyone, but remained behind to keep her company just in case she had any questions for him.

Oddly enough, she had no questions with the exception of- Could she get the lay out of the house before she met his grandfather tomorrow?

To be perfectly honest Rikuo had no problem with her checking out the lay out of the house. Especially if it helped her take care of his grandpa better. After all she had a round the clock job. The last thing she needed was for his grandpa to run off somewhere and accidentally hurt himself and have her not be able to find/help him.

After giving his permission, he sat and smoked his pipe for another ten minutes before she finally finished eating and was ready to be taken to her bedroom that he had had carefully prepared for her not far from either his- nor his grandfather's bedrooms.

Just in case something happened and she needed someone to give her a hand at some point.

Leading her down the hallway to the bedroom, he thought about all the trouble he and the others had gone through to make it comfortable enough for her to do her work when she was working and to rest when she was resting.

The bed was new. The mattresses were new, the paint, bedsheets and curtains were new. Some of the old furniture that had once belonged to his late grandmother had been pulled out of storage, wiped down, repainted, and polished and carefully arranged in various spots all over the room.

Opening the door to the spacious room that he had picked out for Miss Wakamuri, he noted that her duffle bag was sitting on the bed... Already unpacked for her so that she could simply settle in for the night with a nice bath before she headed off to bed.

"This is the room that I had set up for you, I hope that you don't mind the furniture. The bed is new. So are the curtain and sheets. Everything else in an antique that once belonged to my late grandmother." Rikuo said as he stepped back a little bit and angled his body to the side some so that she could brush past him and enter the room and take a look around.

Her expression as she glanced around the living quarters that he'd just shown her was filled with _so_ much innocence. It made his yokai blood boil a little bit and his palms itch to reach out and touch...some part of her. Any part of her really.

Rikuo wasn't all that picky.

And that could possibly be a bad thing. Especially since he had already ordered everyone in his home whom was considered lecherous to keep their hands off of her.

Clearing his throat to get her attention, he waited only long enough for her eyes to lock with his own before he quickly said, "My room is located to your right and my grandfather's is just to your left. If you need anything let me know." And with that, he quickly disappeared.

Hoping that putting some space between himself and his lovely guest would keep him from wanting to play an very inappropriate game of doctor.


	3. Chapter 3

_Sorry I haven't posted the third chap of this story yet._

 _My hubby came home with a bad case of the flu and decided to share. So I've been running a temp between 103.6- to 105.1 for the past few days._

 _But I'm feeling a little bit better right now so I'm going to try and write the next chapter of The Caretaker, and hope that it doesn't come out as utter nonsense._

 _Though I ask that you forgive me if I make it a short chap._

(*********************************************************************************************************************************************)

Saya was unable to sleep right away.

Hell after learning that she was in a house full of _actual_ yokai- no that wasn't exactly right- _yakuza yokai._ She was in a house full of yakuza yokai. Which made it more than a little difficult for her to relax despite the assurances of...the yokai named Rikuo.

So after being left to herself by the stunningly handsome yokai she spent the next hour or so familiarizing herself with her room and unpacking. After which she laid down on the bed and stared at the ceiling for who knows how long before finally managing to doze off.

The next morning, a soft rap of knuckles on something wooden inside of her room had her bolting upright in her bed to find the crimson eyed yokai from the night before standing at the foot of her bed wearing his sleeping attire and staring at her.

"Huh? Wha?" She said unintelligibly as she blinked several times before Rikuo finally said.

"Sorry to disturb you when you seem to have had a late night, last night." Looking down at herself, she blushed a little bit as her sleep fogged brain finally realized what he was talking about. She was still dressed in her clothes from yesterday. _How embarrassing._ "But I thought that I'd come by and wake you up until you either get an alarm clock or get used to the hours we, yokai, keep around here. Now that your awake, I would guess that you have about an hour to an hour in a half to bathe, dress and eat something as well as familiarize yourself with the house before my grandfather awakens."

Saya grappled for a moment for something to say aside from a drowsy sounding, "O-Okay." Which was the typical way she handled things when she was planning to turn over and go back to sleep.

As if sensing what was possibly about to happen, Rikuo reached out and snaked a hand underneath her covers so that he could grasp one of her ankles and then once he had it in his grasp- yanked hard enough to jolt her to full awareness with a semi loud yelp of alarm as he dragged her out of bed, literally kicking and screaming before dropping her onto the floor with a dull thud where she sat for a moment glaring at him as if she would like to rip his head off.

Feeling his lips, and fingers, beginning to twitch a little bit Rikuo decided that it would be best to disappear for a little while and let her get on with her morning since he had harassed her enough for the moment he turned and without a word made his way over to her bedroom door and slipped out.

Leaving the poor woman in a huff about his rude behavior.

Fifteen minutes later, Saya stepped out of her bedroom, bathed, dressed and ready to get to work as she secured her long dark hair with a large hair clip while she walked down the hall.

"Good morning Miss," A masculine voice said from out of no where from behind her. Stopping in mid step, she turned her head slightly to see several of the guys- well, yokai. Yokai, she had to start remembering that- from last night all standing a few feet away from her.

"Oh- um...h-hello." Saya said politely as she tried to recall each of their names, but couldn't.

"Are you about to begin your tour of the house?" The one that looked like a monk asked curiously. His long dark hair slipping over one of his shoulders as he looked down at her.

Saya nodded, not exactly sure what else to do but didn't want to offend them since she wasn't exactly sure what sort of yokai they were or what they would do to her if she pissed them off.

"Well, you're in luck then-" The dirty blond among them wearing the scarf around his neck said politely, "Because we were told by master Rikuo not to let you get lost and fall behind in your work. Come." He said as he stepped around her and began walking.

Saya hesitated for a moment, unsure of whether she should follow him or not. After all, she didn't know whether or not she would actually be safe with these guys when the monk behind her placed his big hand on her slender shoulder and said in a hushed tone, "Don't worry. You're safe with us."

She turned her head to look at him for a moment, her gaze unreadable as she bit the inside of her cheek just to keep from asking.

 _Am I?_

 _Am I really safe here?_


	4. Chapter 4

Everything seemed to go off without a hitch.

It took Saya barely fifteen minutes to familiarize herself with the house while the others gave her a tour of her new living space. Staring with the main house and going on to end at the branch house where it was explained to her some of the _lesser_ ranked youkai lived.

Once Saya had all of the rooms memorized she asked if she could use the kitchen, which caused her little group to balk a bit as the men each stared at her either curiously or in shock.

She wasn't exactly sure which as the man wearing the scarf stepped forward a little and said, "There is no need for you to do such demeaning work. You were brought here to take care of master's grandfather. Not serve others." He explained this with such a sense of authority and finality that she felt a little bit offended that he seemed to think her slow on the uptake or something and almost didn't tell him that by letting her use the kitchen, she would in fact be doing her job.

Honestly, people who began suffering severe afflictions of the mind usually had different nutritional needs.

Or at least that was the case in her experience. But maybe it was different with youkai.

Deciding that it might be better for her patient in the long run to simply ask before she bothered jumping to conclusions, she voiced her thoughts to her small group of companions on their way back to the main house.

To say that both of the youkai were stunned by her question was a gross understatement, though she didn't at first know why until the man in the monk robes bent down a little bit to look her in the eyes as he replied in a thoughtful manner.

"Our former high commander, master Nurarihyon is one of the oldest living youkai in the world. If we seem...a bit startled as to your questions- it is only because we do not really know how to answer them. Before now, none of us were even aware that like humans, once we reach a specific age- our minds would begin to unravel."

"As to the dietary needs of our former master, though he is a pure blooded youkai, he lived much of his life as a human does. I believe that after going so long consuming and drinking human made things, his body simply adapted to those in an effort to keep him alive. Otherwise he would have started picking off human's long before now."

She blinked at him, unsure of how to respond to his words- though there was a tad bit of an insinuation in them that worried her a little, she would simply have to speak to Rikou about her worries at a later date. Until then she would have to simply file the knowledge away in the back of her mind somewhere.

"I see." Was all that she could really think to say before once again asking the small group to let her use the kitchen.

The blond youkai wearing the scarf simply sighed and subtly nodded as the other excused himself and vanished into thin air shortly after they began walking again, starling her to the point where she actually tripped over her own feet and somehow managed to latch onto the blond before they both fell to the hard wood floor.

He with his arms around her in an effort to protect her from any possible injury.

And she shrieking as she clung to him.

(*****************************************************************************************************************************)

Rikou looked at his grandfather with a frustrated expression on his face.

Now granted that he knew his grandfather's current lack of attention wasn't exactly his fault, but still, one would think that the old man would at least try to pay attention to what he was attempting to explain to him about his live-in caretaker.

After all, he didn't want the old man to start recalling his youth as a youkai and do something inappropriate to the woman and scare the shit out of her.

Sighing for what seemed like the hundredth time in the past ten minutes, Rikou again tried to get his grandfather's attention when Kurotabo appeared.

Looking at the youkai, Rikou wondered what he wanted as the man opened his mouth to speak when a feminine shriek much different from any others either had ever heard before suddenly sounded and had both men quickly snapping to attention and running to where the sound came from.

Once the reached the area, both men paused when they saw Saya and Kubinashi both on the floor, lying on top of each other.

Huffing slightly at the sight of the woman in his former nanny's arms, Rikou took a moment to squash the weird feeling of jealousy stirring within him and walked over to the two and cleared his throat expectantly as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Kubinashi was the first to realise that his master was present and looked up at him and blanched a little, knowing that someone had better explain why he and the woman were on the floor clinging to one another before his master decided to ream the both of them.

"Good morning master Rikou," Kubinashi greeted awkwardly as he slowly pushed himself upright a little bit and then put the woman away from him. "Forgive the...uh... _scene_ we just made master. I sent Kurotabo to speak with you about miss Saya using our kitchen and when he disappeared the miss was so startled that she tripped and took me down with her when she fell." He said, hoping to defuse whatever temper his master was about to exhibit.

Rikou considered Kubinashi's explanation and conceded that little accidents like this one were bound to happen from this day onward until the woman either got used to youkai habits of left them, he knelt down next to Saya And looked her over for a moment before offering her his hand and asking if she was alright.

She looked at him for a moment, her expression just a little bit dazed as she slowly reached out and slipped her hand in his own and let him pull her up so that they were both standing.

"Thanks." Saya said as she flushed with embarrassment and pulled her small hand from his grasp before he could even think to tighten his hold.

He gave a slight nod before asking, "What's this stuff about wanting to use the kitchen?"

"Oh! I was telling your friends-"

"Comrades."

"W-What?"

"They are my comrades. More like brothers really. But I still call them my comrades." Rikou said gently, hoping that she would understand that the dynamics within a yakuza family was far different from a normal one. Everyone within his house was ranked specifically due to either their skill set or place within a joint clan.

"Oh. I see." She didn't really understand since she had grown up differently from himself, but she thought that she got the gist of it. Sort of. "Um, well I was wanting to use the kitchen so that I could fix your grandfather breakfast."

Rikou was about to tell her that his grandfather's food was probably already fixed however paused when Kurotabo quickly explained to him the reason why she wished to use the kitchen. Rikou's expression remained neutral until the man was done speaking before turning and starting to walk away as he called out.

"Take Saya to the kitchen and help her with anything she may need. We'll cover everything else later."


	5. Chapter 5

Rikuo stood just inside of the door to the kitchen with Kurotabo, watching Saya as she made herself at home and began fixing what he noticed was a partially western style breakfast for his grandfather which consisted of an omelet with some vegetables like mushrooms, red and orange peppers, some chopped green onion, a little bit of salt, and a mixture of shredded cheese that once was done cooking- she placed it over some rice next to some sausage, and several strips of bacon, before fixing a little bowl of cut up fruit and miso soup with a glass of milk.

To say that Rikuo was more than a little bit impressed would be an understatement. Though he wasn't entirely sure that his grandfather would eat so much since his appetite had been slowly, but surely diminishing bit by bit ever since his condition had become known to him.

Placing everything on a wooden tray so that she could carry it to his grandfather's room for him to eat, Rikuo found himself impressed by the fact that she was willing to make an attempt to carry something so heavy to his grandfather. He said, _attempt_ , because that's exactly what she did.

She made an attempt- before of course, his manners kicked in and he stepped forward and took the heavy tray from her delicate hands and then turned and walked back out of the room and paused for a moment to see if she was going to follow him, and only moved to begin walking again once he was satisfied that she was.

The two walked in silence back towards the part of the house that she had been placed in only for Rikuo to notice that not only was his grandfather awake (he could not only hear him, but see him outside of his room as well) but strangely enough- he had just come out of Saya's room wearing a pair of _very_ nice- if a little bit too damn noticeable for Rikuo's comfort- pair of red lace panties on his head.

Growling softly in irritation, Rikuo prayed that Saya wouldn't over react to his grandfather's total violation of her privacy. Not to mention her unmentionables that he had pilfered, and become so offended that she decided to tell him to shove the job and leave.

"Son!" His grandfather called out happily as he brandished another piece of Saya's pilfered unmentionables- this time a white bra with little fuschia, turquoise, and pink polka dots all over it- like a fucking flag, and waved it around for everyone around them to see.

Which only made it possible for over half of the house hold to see Saya's things. Causing Rikuo to flush with mortification and growl again as he finally reached his grandfather and shifted his hold on the try so that he could quickly snatch the panties and bra from him and handed them to Saya who made a weird Eep-ing sound behind his back as he greeted his grandfather as he muttered, _"Old fart."_ Before he tacked on, "I have some breakfast for you, so why don't we find ourselves a nice place to settle down and eat."

His grandfather smiled at him and quickly scanned the area before his gaze settled on Saya who was hanging back trying to figure out how the hell her unmentionables had would up in his possession.

The elder's eyes did a quick once over of the young woman before a lecherous grin stretched across his face and he took a moment to distract Rikuo by pointing to the garden as a nice place to take one's morning meal and then waited for him to head in that direction before he made his move on the young woman.

Saya hadn't even introduced herself to the elder yet and already she felt a little bit frazzled due to the fact that he had gone through her things. She was so frazzled in fact that she didn't notice the elder had moved to stand in front of her until she felt hands cupping her breasts.

Blinking, she slowly shifted her gaze from her unmentionables, down to the person touching her so inappropriately. Her mind chanting, _He is not groping me, he is not groping me, he is...groping me- What the hell?!_ Mere moments before she shrieked, "Hands! Hands!" Causing the elder to remove his hands so that he could quickly cover his ears just to block out what he could of the sound of her voice shrieking at him in outrage.

Rikuo was half way across the yard to the place where his grandfather had pointed out as a good spot to eat at, knowing damn well that something was about to happen. So naturally he wasn't totally surprised when he heard Saya shrieking loudly enough to make the ears of any youkai in the immediate area's ears bleed.

Sighing, he set the tray down where he was and then turned to go and fetch the other two. Figuring that he could act as a buffer between them just in case Saya decided to react like any other woman getting groped by a strange, dirty minded old man, and slug someone.

At least that way she wouldn't lose her job for abusing the elderly and his grandfather would get to live to see another day.


	6. Chapter 6

Reaching out, Rikuo grabbed his grandfather by the scruff of the neck and lifted him up off of his feet, where he hung somewhat limply in his grasp as the younger man growled at the elder to stop with his incredibly _inappropriate_ antics. Despite the fact that his grandfather might not understand what he was growling at him about- they needed the woman to stick around to take care of him, and that wouldn't continue to happen if his grandfather kept misbehaving!

Once he had a firm grip on his grandfather, Rikuo ruby colored eyes to Saya and quietly told her to put her unmentionables away as he averted his eyes so that she wouldn't see just how much seeing them affected him.

He was after all a healthy young male.

And seeing such things belonging to an attractive woman was...well... _uncomfortably_ _stirring_.

Saya blushed a fetching pink and quickly tossed her bra and panties into her assigned bedroom and then closed the door and then turned to him and said in a peeved tone, "I think I may need a lock for my door."

Rikuo merely scoffed at this, thinking that no lock would keep a youkai from her room- much less her things- if they didn't wish to be. Of course this counted himself and his grandfather among others currently residing within the walls of his home.

Not that he would tell her that this morning's fiasco was most likely not going to be the last. No- if he did, she'd probably start shrieking again and then he just might have to silence her with something.

His mouth maybe?

Absently running his tongue along the small fangs that he had inherited through his demon blood. He mentally played out that particular scenario just to see how it would turn out. And in doing so only stirred his youkai blood even more as he wondered if she would taste as sweet as she looked before catching himself and quickly squashing _those_ particular tempting thoughts as he set his grandfather down on the ground right behind the tray of food that Saya had so painstakingly cooked for him and watched the elder's face light up like a Christmas tree as he took a moment to sniff everything before grabbing up his chop sticks and beginning to eat.

Rikuo cringed a little bit at his grandfather's lack of decorum and manners as he watched him eat his food as if he were a ravenous wolf and hoped to the gods that Saya wasn't disgusted by the elder's eating habits when he heard Saya say, "Slow down Nuraihyon-sama. You'll choke if you eat too fast."

Exhaling the breath that he hadn't been aware of holding, Rikuo watched with great interest as Saya sat down across from the elder and reached out a hand to wipe at some food sticking to his face.

"Who are you?" Nuraihyon asked between messy and partially chewed bites of food as he looked at the young woman across from him. Even though he couldn't recall much about his life or the people around him, the elder could tell that the female was someone new.

Not only that but she was a stunning beauty. And from the scent of her, she was unclaimed and untouched by the hands of men. An rare oddity in his world.

His dark eyes flickered to the young male standing with his arms crossed over his muscled chest, watching everything that the two were doing with an almost predatory gaze and realized that the female must belong to him since there was hardly any other reason for him to be watching them so closely.

Or at least that's what he thought as he heard the female introduce herself as Saya Wakamuri. After which he nodded his head absently and then dismissed her altogether in lieu of finishing his meal in silence.

Saya sat patiently for him to finish up and tilted her head back to glance at her employer for a moment. Taking note of the way that he was watching her and his grandfather and felt a chill of discomfort shoot down her spine. And for the sake of her job, ignored it and turned back to her patient as he finished off what was left of the food before picking up his cup of milk and tossing it back and swallowing it all in one big gulp before setting the glass back down.

"What is on my agenda today?" Nuraihyon asked suddenly, the sound of his voice almost making Saya jump as Rikuo glanced down at her and nudged her with his knee. As if to say, _Well answer the man._

 _"Oh!_ Um, I was thinking that you could watch TV or read or play a game or something to occupy you for a little while, and then around one pm, if you weren't tired yet then we could walk around the garden or sit out here for a little bit and enjoy the day. And then after that I could fix you a snack and then if you wanted to take a nap until dinner time- then you could do that. Do you have any objections?"

"Just one. Who are you again?"


	7. Chapter 7

Rikuo decided that he'd hang around, if for no other reason that to make sure that Saya didn't decide to up and strangle the life out of his grandfather. Not that Rikuo, himself could have blamed her any if she did decide to do just that. Especially after his grandfather had pilfered her unmentionables and put them on such blatant display like he had.

Why if his grandfather had done that to anyone that Rikuo had grown up close to- he just might have strangled the old man for her.

But as it turned out, Saya was oddly professional about everything. Perhaps a little bit too professional. The woman gave new meaning to the phrase out of sight, out of mind. And just seemed to forget the mornings earlier debacle in lieu of keeping his grandfather (and his hands) occupied.

And Rikuo must say, personally, the woman did a far better job than he had expected her too. In fact, she didn't say one thing (nor attempt to string his grandfather up in one of the trees by his man bits) whenever the old man stepped out of line and did something with her.

Like when he had copped a feel before lunch.

Or like when they had been walking around the garden a little while and his grandfather had announced that he was bored and suddenly turned and grabbed the hem of her shirt and lifted it up over her head. Putting her currently worn bra on display.

Causing said female to shriek again in feminine outrage as she quickly yanked her top back down and this time... _tied it to_ _her pants?_ Before taking off like a shot across the lawn after his grandfather who was laughing maniacally. Until... Saya caught him and with a little bit of work and effort, stripped the man naked and with an irked growl walked off with his kimono and fundoshi. But not before pausing in front of Rikuo and stating that if he dared do that again, she was putting him in a straight jacket.

A reaction that wasn't in the least bit unwarranted. But shocking nevertheless for he, his grandfather and the rest of the youkai masses. Especially since Rikuo himself was fairly certain that she meant it.

Not long after which, he went to fetch his petrified grandfather whom had taken to hiding himself behind some shrubs. Deciding that he wasn't going to push the woman into collecting the elder since she'd been traumatized enough for one day.

After that, he, his grandfather and Saya all sat down to a nice lunch and afterwards his grandpa decided that he was tired of the morning's activities and laid down for a nice long nap.

During which time, Rikuo told Saya that he would watch the elder if she wanted to simply go find a quiet place to occupy until he awoke.

After several hours, Saya returned to him with some more food for himself, his grandfather and herself. Letting him know that it was a little pasted dinner time and the old man should be getting up soon.

In the meantime that gave Rikuo a little bit of extra time to speak with Saya about what he had decided would happen later that night.

He watched her curiously graceful movement's during dinner, noting her table manners and other things before realizing that the girl was obviously from a very wealthy family. And was possibly a heiress. Or perhaps had been at one time. Which begged the question, why did she become a nurse?

Did she simply like helping others that much? Or was she simply a masochist?

After all, from what he'd seen today so far being a nurse to the elderly wasn't easy in the slightest. You had to wake up before them at the ass crack of dawn, fix their meals, lay out their meds, be prepared to fight them _every damn step_ of the way on _everything_ , and in the end...you inevitably had to watch the ones that you had cared for, and become attached to...slowly waste away and die.

Rikuo couldn't really think of a job that was worse for a person like Saya.

Except stripper... _Maybe_.

Shaking that particular thought from his mind, he cleared his throat before saying, "You did well today." Causing Saya to look up from her plate and blush a little bit underneath his stare.

"I could have done _better_." Saya said. Causing him to cock his head a little bit at her before asking, how. To which the woman quickly replied, "I could have put him in the straight jacket right off the bat." Causing him to chuckle a little bit at her sense of humor before replying.

"I'm not sure a straight jacket would hold him."

"It would if I put chains and stuff on it. Maybe a sacred sutra or two."

Again Rikuo chuckled before moving on. "Well, regardless. You did well today. That's why once he's settled in for the night I and several others will be accompanying you to a few clothing stores and such within the neighborhood where you can buy what you'll need for a longer stay. I've also asked one of my men to purchase you a fridge for your room, and a TV too. Both of which should be here later today."

"You didn't have to do that."

"But I wanted too... Say, can you tell me- What's the real reason you became a nurse?"

Saya slowly shifted, her cheerful expression changing somewhat as she looked away and replied almost robotically, "I already told you why I became a nurse."

"But I can sense that you're not telling me everything." Rikuo said in a slightly coaxing manner before she looked him dead in the eye. No smile, no trace of humor- just here eyes staring him down in an unnerving manner that nearly had him squirming where he sat before she said softly.

"Sometimes it's best not to ask anymore than it is to tell. Because there are some things simply too painful to speak about." And with that, the conversation was ended. Mainly due to the fact that he knew that getting information from her would be like pulling teeth from a crocodile.

The hand goes in the beast's mouth and...never comes out.

 _Hn, I didn't know that women could be so stubborn._ Rikuo thought as he reached inside of his yakata top and fished out a paper envelope containing Saya's new bank account information, credit cards and several other items that he had thought she would need, and laid it down on her tray so that she could go through it whenever she wanted as he said.

"I've already deposited the first two months worth of your pay in the account listed on the paper inside of that envelope. I also opened an new bank account in your name at a place several miles from here. I thought it would make things somewhat easier just in case you ever needed to get out and do some things after work. If you ever need to leave during work hours, simply let me know and I'll sit with grandpa until you get back."

"I do however insist that you take someone with you every time you go out, for protection. Once the old man is settled down for the night, we'll leave to go get what you need. And maybe stop by a grocery store so that you can get yourself some things so that you don't have to leave your room for a midnight snack or whatever."

"Yeah, okay." Saya said as she looked at the envelope oddly as he chuckled again and stood up, taking his dinner tray with him as he walked off.


	8. Chapter 8

**Happy holidays everyone!**

(******************************************************************************************************************)

To say that Rikuo was somewhat looking forward to going out shopping with the newest member of his household after his grandfather was asleep, would be an understatement.

After watching Saya work on taking care of his grandfather, fight with him to get him to take his medication and vitamins, and then cook and feed him dinner before seeing to it that he was bathed (something that his grandpa liked just a _little_ bit too much before Rikuo had had to step in and save the unsuspecting young woman from being molested and then once that was done left her to finish up putting his grandfather to bed while he went to finish up finalizing his plans for their little outing.

After all, he needed to make sure that he had the right people to come with himself and Saya when they went out. Just like he needed to make sure that he had the proper people staying behind to watch his grandfather as well. Preferably someone that knew how to work the phone and do CPR just in case something happened.

Finally about an hour later, everything was finalized and his grandpa was snoring away in his bedroom when Saya stepped out into the open and gently closed his grandpa's bedroom door and sighed before quietly asking if she had enough time to change her clothes and straighten up her appearance some.

Rikuo nodded his head and told her that they would be leaving within the hour just in case she decided that she wanted a shower to scrub away some of the dirty old man germs and then watched her walk to her bedroom and slip inside and gently close the door.

Ten minutes later, Saya stepped out of her room wearing a pair of faded to white denim pants, and an elbow length pastel pick colored sweater with little white, mint green and aqua colored squares on it. Her face had been washed and some blush and lip gloss applied, her long dark hair had been brushed and put up in a twist and she had a small purse in hand.

Rikuo had had to do a double take as he took in the sight of her. And he had to say, he was already liking everything that he saw as he mentally swore to _buy_ her as many pairs of skin tight jeans and sweaters just like the one that she was wearing even if it killed him.

She was just that beautiful. And he simply _liked_ the view that damn much.

"Okay. I'm ready to go now," Saya said as she stepped out of her room and gently closed the door again as she walked up to him. He worked his mouth several times as he stared down at the little vixen that called out to his youkai blood and tried to force himself to say something. But failed for several moments, causing her to panic slightly and ask, "What is it? Am I wearing too much lip gloss or blush?"

Instead of simply answering her verbally, he leaned down a little bit and carefully grasped the hand that she was using to comb though her long bangs and caught a whiff of her sweet floral scent and finally seemed to find his tongue. "Y-You smell nice. What is that scent your wearing? Is it a perfume?"

Saya squeaked and blushed a vivid color of pink and tried to push him away, however he didn't budge even under her strongest of pushes. It was like pushing as an overly familiar brick wall. It was weird. And upsetting and- and... Her mind blanked slightly as he buried his face against the side of her neck causing a strange jolt to shoot down her spine before she renewed her efforts to push him away and growled out.

"Knock it off! I'm not wearing any perfume- your probably smelling my shampoo and conditioner."

Rikuo finally backed off, but only a little bit. For some reason that he didn't understand his youkai blood was singing to him in a way that he was unfamiliar with. He felt hot, feverish even, his lungs both struggling for breath and not.

Saya's scent was tantalizing, enchanting, it had his undivided attention in ways that merely seeing her dressed differently wouldn't. He didn't know what was happening, he didn't even know the _why_ of things. All he knew was that the woman was his and he would not let her escape him.

Breathing in her honey sweet scent one more time, he felt an odd pressure settling in the center of his chest as he sighed, knowing that he couldn't push her any further today without risking her leaving him in fear, and released her hand and turned and began walking towards the gate where the others had already gathered and been waiting and watching the peculiar exchange between himself and Saya and _knew_ that later he would have some explaining to do.


	9. Chapter 9

**_Sorry for the slow updates. I've heatstroke for the past few days._**

 ** _I am working._**

* * *

Shopping with Saya was not like shopping with his childhood friend, Kana. She was quick and efficient and commanded he and his men like they were soldiers gearing up for war. Truly it was amazing. _Horrifying_ up close but amazing nevertheless. This was obviously not a typical behavior that Rikuo had never seen before in one of the opposite sex.

He was used to girls who were traditional, quiet, perhaps even shy.

And here was Saya- barking out orders as if they were royal decree's while he and his men scampered off to do her bidding before she did something terrible to them. They didn't know what exact she could do to them since they were supernatural beings and all, but one glare in their direction gave them the impression that perhaps they shouldn't wait around to see.

So while Rikuo's men were running around like chickens with their heads cut off, Rikuo himself took a moment or so to assess Saya as she quietly went through a sales bin of _wahhh!_ Quickly turning away with his face flaming with embarrassment, he now understood at least part of the reason behind her sending them all scampering off in every direction.

He supposed that any girl in her position would do something terrible to a man/men if they were standing right over her while she was looking at panty/bra sets.

 _I guess that I just didn't think of this being an issue._ He thought to himself as one of his men stupidly came up to her while she was still looking over the red and black lace set in her hands and threw the stuff in his arms down at her feet and growled.

"That's it! I've gotten everything that you demanded, now I'm done." To which Rikuo noted Saya carefully set down the panty/bra set before she then responded with a terrifying sounding,

 _"Did I ask you if you were done?"_

His man balked for a moment at her sickly sweet tone, and frankly Rikuo couldn't blame him any in the least. He'd seen many a man fall to women that had used such tones before, and then seemed to realize that he was going to back down and growled at the tiny woman again in a threatening manner that Rikuo _would_ be speaking to the sorry bastard about later on.

He may be the leader of the Nura clan, but he would _not_ have one of his men acting in a threatening manner and attempting to either scare nor harm the little human female that was taking care of his grandfather. _He wouldn't, he wouldn't, he wouldn't..._

Narrowing his crimson eyes a little bit as he watched the exchange in what he thought was secret, but was actually not seeing as several of his top guys had joined him and were also watching the exchange with keen interest. Likely because they probably thought that Saya would back down or start crying or something.

But something told him that they were dead wrong on _both_ accounts. He knew this because it was incredibly rare for humans to be able to so much as look at youkai's in the eye. The reason for this was the unnaturalness of their eyes coupled with their predatory natures.

Such things were simply more than difficult for a mere human to stare down since the only equivalent to it that he could think of was like staring down a massive prehistoric predator on the hunt- and suddenly smelled freshly spilled blood.

It was simply terrifying on every level that a human could conceive of.

And yet ever since she had walked through the gate of his home, and learned the truth of his nature- much less everyone else's- she hadn't stopped staring them down. She looked them all in the eye. She talked to them as equals...despite knowing that it would be quite easy for _any_ of them to rend her to pieces.

"I said that I was finished b-" And that was about as far as his man got before Saya literally had him by the balls, eliciting a strange choking sound from the youkai and a series of slightly sympathetic winces, cringes and looks of abject horror on his other men's faces as they watched her walk the guy backwards by his nut sack with a sweet little smile on her face before she gave it a savage twist, dropping the overly tall and heavily muscled male where she then hooked two fingers in his nostrils and then slammed his face into her knee.

Three times before finally dropping him completely and then walking back over to where she had been looking at panty and bra sets when she caught a glimpse of Rikuo and the others and growled out, "Anyone else wanna complain? Or start something that you won't be able to finish?"

Everyone wisely shook their heads no and quickly ran away. Some of them tripping over each other as they ran. Leaving only Rikuo behind to tell her, "Once we're home, I'll talk to everyone again and make it clear that you are off limits in every capacity. Maybe that will help as far as anyone trying to intimidate you or threaten you."

Saya gave an somewhat unlady like snort as she muttered, "Doubtful," before then tacking on. "It's been my experience that such things only make everything worse."

"You say that as if you've been on the receiving end of some really bad stuff before." He meant to say it more as a question to satisfy his growing curiosity more than anything else, though it didn't come out that way. But after what he'd just seen her do with one of his men- perhaps he wasn't totally out of line to think like this.

It would definitely explain some things, behavior wise.

Saya didn't say anything to neither confirm nor deny his theory, she instead grabbed the red and black lace panty/bra set along with a teal one, pastel pink, white, mint green, sapphire, and black sets and then walked off to find herself some socks or something.


End file.
